Suspect chokes on phony cash

Updated 11:33 pm, Friday, March 1, 2013

TRUMBULL -- Turns out a Bridgeport man bit off more than he could chew when police said he tried to pass several phony $50 bills at the Pretzel Maker.

When police caught up with 21-year-old Bilal Khan Thursday afternoon, they said he stuffed a wad of the phony cash in his mouth and began chewing.

He refused an order to spit out the mass of paper and instead continued chewing as green ink dribbled out of the side of his mouth police said.

"Maybe he thought the bills were printed with edible ink," said Deputy Police Chief Michael Harry. "We've arrested persons trying to swallow evidence before, but this is the first time it was a wad of phony money."

Police said the clumpy chaw of cash was apparently too big for Khan to choke down and he ended up spitting it onto the ground, where police recovered what turned out to be four phony $50 bills.

"It is believed that Khan was laundering his counterfeit monies," the police report states.

Leonardo Rosa, an employee of the Pretzel Maker, said Khan had put in a large order of pretzel bites and handed him a $50 bill.

But Rosa told police the bill didn't look right so he gave it back to Khan. Khan then remarked that someone had "gotten him," and he would go out to his car to get more money, police said. He then left the mall.

Harry said they often get complaints of counterfeit money being used prior to the holidays, and recently arrested a gang from New York who were passing ersatz bills.

"But this guy appears to have been operating on his own," he said.

Khan was charged with five counts of first-degree forgery and one count each of interfering with police and tampering with evidence. He was being held in lieu of $20,000 -- in real greenbacks.